The field of archery is ancient, and the bow has long been a staple of hunting and warfare. In modern times, the tradition of archery continues recreationally and in hunting as most U.S. states designate a bow hunting season for certain animals. As archery has developed through the centuries, new features and accessories have been added to the bow.
One new feature of the modern bow is a stabilizer, which is typically a shaft-like mass that extends forward from the bow. When an arrow is launched from a bow, the arrow is subjected to a sudden propulsive force, and consequently the bow is subjected to a sudden and equal reactive force transmitted through the bow string. Often, this propulsive force is accompanied by a vertical or lateral torque that may cause the arrow to deviate from its desired flight path.
Stabilizers have three purposes for the archer: balance, vibration damping, and making the archer hold the bow steadier while aiming. The balancing goal is to steady a bow in an archer's hand so that it does not noticeably tip to either side or tip overly frontward or backward while aiming. Next, many stabilizers have some form of a vibration damping system to dissipate vibration caused by the released energy during the shot. Lastly, as an archer aims the bow, it is noticeably easier to grip the bow if there is some mass positioned forward of the bow. All else being equal, a stabilizer that extends farther out in front of the bow will make steadier aiming possible as compared to a shorter stabilizer. Further descriptions of a stabilizer may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,742,723 and 5,992,403, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
Another feature of the modern bow is the quiver, which allows an archer to conveniently carry arrows, bolts, or darts. Quivers may be disposed on a belt, slung over the back of the archer, carried in the archer's hand, or carried in the archer's backpack. However, the modern trend is to attach the quiver to the bow itself. An example of such a quiver is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,105,566, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
A bow-mounted quiver has many drawbacks. First, the quiver obstructs the view of the archer. A bow-mounted quiver is vertically oriented and disposed on either side of the bow. This necessarily restricts the view of the archer which can endanger the archer. A bow hunter must stalk his or her target and be in close proximity with the target, and an obstructed view may cause the hunter to miss a visual cue from the animal: a mother protecting her young, a rutting bull, etc. Another drawback is the weight of the quiver. An archer must elevate the bow with his or her arms during use, and added weight can fatigue the archer.
The weight of the quiver is also offset from the bow's center of gravity. Most bow-mounted quivers on the market today hold arrows on the right side of a right hand bow (left side of a left hand bow) as viewed by the archer shooting the bow. This placement causes the bow to balance off-center toward the dominant hand of the shooter (i.e., to the right for a right handed shooter). Therefore, the weight and position of the quiver affects the accuracy and precision of the bow. To remedy the issues associated with a bow-mounted quiver the archer may carry the quiver by hand, on a backpack, or on a belt as mentioned above. However, this would necessitate the use of a belt or backpack or result in fatigue of the archer if the archer carried the quiver by hand.